PHOENIX — A pitching duel in the desert between the Rockies’ Chad Kuhl and Arizona’s Merrill Kelly left no margin for error.
The Rockies learned that the hard way when the Diamondbacks ambushed reliever Carlos Estevez with two home runs in the eighth inning en route to a 4-1 victory Friday night at Chase Field.
Kelly nearly pitched the first complete game of his career, holding the Rockies to seven hits over 8 2/3 innings. Manager Torey Lovullo made a visit to the mound with two outs in the ninth after Elias Diaz singled to right. Lovullo, much to the crowd’s pleasure, left Kelly in.